AI visibility
What are Google AI Overviews and how does a site appear in them?
AI Overviews are AI-written summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the pages it drew on. There is no special markup to opt in. Google says the same fundamentals apply: pages must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet, and be helpful, original and clearly written.
What Google says
Google’s guidance for its AI features is that standard SEO fundamentals apply and that no extra file or markup is required. A page needs to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet to be used as a supporting link.
What you can control
- Indexing. Make sure important pages return 200, are not noindex and are in your sitemap.
- Snippet settings. The
nosnippetandmax-snippetrobots directives, and thedata-nosnippetattribute, limit how much of a page Google can show. - Content quality. Original, accurate pages written for people, with a clear answer near the top.
- Structured data. It should match the visible page. It helps Google understand a page but is not a switch for AI features.
What does not apply
The Google-Extended robots token controls whether Google may use your content for training and grounding its Gemini models. Google states that it does not affect inclusion or ranking in Search, so it is not the control for AI Overviews.
How SageRank helps
SageRank’s page basics check looks at title, description, canonical link, Open Graph tags, sitemap and HTTPS, which are the indexing fundamentals. The free SageRank report scores any domain for SEO, AEO, GEO and security, adds one overall score, and lists what to fix first. Type sagerank.io/ in front of any address to run it.